1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to medical orthopedic devices and particularly to braces for improving the posture of a patient to treat medical ailments.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Medical costs are one of the greatest concerns to various societies throughout the world, including the United States, which is involved in disputes over procedures and laws to be followed in an effort to reduce the tremendous expenses to consumers, taxpayers, the government and insurance companies stemming from various different types of maladies. Additionally, may patients suffering from spinal or structural maladies are forced to endure long term pain and deterioration of the body stemming from various injuries, skeletal deterioration, osteoporosis and the like.
Tasks involved in everyday work compound the problems encountered by patients tending to suffer from the affliction stemming from improper posture. Much of the work performed by various individuals involves addressing work pieces located forward of the body, such as on a desk or the like, as in the case of personal computers, where workers tend to sometimes hunch over, bend the spine forward and oftentimes fold the shoulders forwardly into improper posture positions.
The bones in the thoracic and particularly in the shoulder girdle area, include the clavicle and scapula, which can be generally described as a flat or planar bone of triangular shape, situated back of the rib cage and typically articulated with movement of the arms, oftentimes shifted forwardly and downwardly when the worker concentrates intently on desk work or machining or work activity located forwardly and downwardly from the worker's head or neck. The shoulder joint is a ball-and-socket joint formed by a large globular head of the humerus and the elongated glenoid cavity in the scapula which receives the humeral head. The ligaments of the shoulder encircle the ball-and-socket structure and are often exposed to considerable stress or repetitive movement, all too frequently resulting in irritation and inflammation of the muscles and tendons, even to the point requiring surgery or considerable physical therapy in an effort to overcome the pain and discomfort involved.
The thoracic spine and shoulder are constructed to work in tandem to maintain the patient standing tall and with a pleasing posture. Injury or instability can result in stooping, leading to pain throughout the body from headaches to lower back pain, and general diminishment in the quality of life.
It has been recognized that spinal injury typically stems from imbalance, such as a person's posture slouching forward for extended periods of time, which may cause tight anterior musculature and weak posterior musculature, sometimes even resulting in pectoral muscles in the chest becoming permanently shortened, thus making it difficult of not impossible for the worker to fully straighten his or her back and hold the shoulders back. This imbalance is the cause of numerous different injuries and afflictions, specifically in the neck, shoulder and spine area, oftentimes resulting in the loss of work time sometimes even debilitating the worker to the point where he or she must be assigned different tasks.
Posture changes which occur over time are typically referred to as kyphosis. When the vertebrae fracture, typically in the upper (thoracic) spine, the patient will oftentimes experience pain, height loss, and a stooped or hunched posture.
The spine is made up of numerous small bones called vertebrae. The various regions of the spine from the bottom (sacrum), to the middle (thoracic) to the top (cervical) can be hunched leaving the head and/or shoulders hunched forwardly of the torso to present undesirable posture.
Osteoporosis afflicts some 50% of women over 50 years of age and decreases of the density of the vertebrae of the spine which oftentimes leads to vertebral fractures which can result in severe pain and discomfort in the patient and millions of dollars in medical costs. The available data reveals that spinal fractures and/or compression fractures in the spine occur in some 550,000 cases per year as a result of osteoporosis.
A patient's recovery from surgery or injury can be stimulated by inducing the patient to assume a more appropriate posture. The various types of injuries experienced can include torn rotor cuff, SLAP (Superior Labral from Anterior to Posterior) tear, shoulder instability, sub-acromial decompression, labral tears, and impingement on the nerves or joints. In each instance rehabilitation may benefit from some degree of posture improvement and/or immobilization.
Various types of harnesses have been proposed for improving posture, typically incorporating upper straps extending over the shoulders and lower straps which extend underneath the armpits to partially embrace the shoulders. These devices typically suffer the shortcoming that the straps underneath the arms contribute to the discomfort of the patient wearing the device, thus discouraging use and defeating the effect sought in treatment of the patient's posture
In recognition of the benefits that could be experienced from braces and therapeutic devices to induce better posture, it has been proposed to fit the patient with a short-sleeved shirt such as a t-shirt or other garment and provide crossed straps extending over the shoulders, attached to run across the exterior of the t-shirt or garment and attached at the lower extremities to a device on the garment to hopefully draw the shoulders rearwardly. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,094 to Maas. A similar device but for use with a pad or the like to be held in the center of the back is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,871,388 to Brown.
While serving some of the intended purpose, the shortcoming of devices of this type is that the patient typically benefits most from having the upper area of the shoulders drawn rearwardly to maintain the shoulder blade or scapula in more of a vertical plane. It has been discovered that by extending the restraining straps over the outside of the garment and over the top of the shoulders, the effectiveness of holding the shoulders back is compromised, and thus does not provide the desired effectiveness for improving posture and serving to rehabilitate patient's injuries and the like.